


braids undone

by politicalmamaduck



Series: Alderaanian Braiding Traditions [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alderaan, Enthusiastic Consent, F/M, Hair Braiding, Movie: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19071646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politicalmamaduck/pseuds/politicalmamaduck
Summary: Her hair now completely undone, Han continued to gently run his hands through it. He was tentative, and she let the moment continue, knowing he was still handling what she had told him, what the act signified to her.





	braids undone

**Author's Note:**

> Please do read the prior work in this series before reading this one, as it continues from there. I was inspired to write Han/Leia fic again after the Star Wars Memorial Day weekend marathon; I have always loved exploring the missing moments between these two.

Light intensified within her as he undid her braids. She felt at once that she was completely herself, making a choice to allow a being who loved her the most intimate act Alderaanian society could contemplate. Yet at the same time, she felt as though she were watching the scene, observing herself from another plane, watching Han Solo carefully undo each woven strand of hair with shaking hands and gently brush it out, listening intently to her instructions, to her telling him about Alderaan and what the braids meant.

She had chills down her spine and raised hairs on her arms, yet she was warm all over, heat rising from her core.

Her hair now completely undone, Han continued to gently run his hands through it. He was tentative, and she let the moment continue, knowing he was still handling what she had told him, what the act signified to her.

She caught his hands behind her, and pushed her hair to her side, still watching him through the mirror. The reflection revealed so much, yet so little. She captured his eyes, and gave an almost imperceptible smile and nod, as if to say _what will you do next, Scoundrel_?

He bent down and kissed the now exposed side of her neck, pressing his head there as if to bury their sorrows and frustrations far away from this moment, from where they were now, trapped on the _Millennium Falcon_ , floating in space, so far from anywhere or anything they could possibly call home, or even shelter.

“Leia,” he started, but she turned and pressed a finger to his lips. She traced them for a moment, and smiled fully, her first smile in she wasn’t quite sure how long.

She pulled him down to her for a kiss, and this time, there was no C-3PO to interrupt about power couplings, or to tell them how unlikely they were to survive. Without interruption, their kiss deepened. The warmth--a glow, even--spread throughout Leia’s entire body.

 _Is this love_? she distantly wondered, somewhere, once again, above yet within her own body. She wanted more despite the feeling that her heart would burst. She wanted more, she wanted everything, she wanted to dissolve in her lover’s embrace and yet also possess him, mark him, claim him for her own.

He pulled her up off her seat and into his arms, wrapping them around her as if he would never let her go.

They kissed and ran their hands over the other’s body, somehow finding their way to the small bunk in the cabin. Han sat down upon it, breaking their kiss and putting his hands on her shoulders. His lips were now slightly swollen from their kissing, his eyes dark, and his expression one of adoration, of love, of concern.

“Leia,” he said once more, looking at her intently. “Are you sure?” he asked, sounding so unlike himself with none of the bravado of the smuggler’s persona. They were both stripped bare before the other here, Leia without her braids, her icy reserve, her mental walls, and he without his cockiness, without his swagger, without the Corellian hells-may-care attitude.

“Yes,” she answered, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“May I?” he asked once more, gesturing to her jumpsuit.

“Yes,” she said again, and turned her back to him, once again pushing her hair to the side, so that he could unzip the heavy garment.

Her skin was soon as bare as her soul when she stepped out of it, leaving it to the floor. She turned back to Han, who was looking at her as if she were something more than a flawed mortal woman, as if she were a goddess from ancient myth.

She helped divest him of his jacket, his shirt, and pants, his blaster placed carefully on the small table next to the bunk. She gently pulled his undergarments off as he did the same to her, standing, drinking in the sight of each other. He then reached up to remove her breast band, tenderly rubbing his thumbs into her back.

Her final garment removed, she reached up to him and pulled him close once more for another kiss, relishing in the feel of his body pressed to hers, his skin to keep her warm, his hands running up and down her back.

Still entwined, he managed to sit back down on the bunk and she arranged herself on his lap. She could feel his erection, so she pushed him back down onto the bed, running her hand down his chest. Her hair fell forward once more, framing them in a brown curtain and adding even more intimacy, more sensation to the passion between them.

As she straddled him and guided him inside her, she felt like she could finally understand what Luke meant when he talked about the Force. She could feel Han, inside her, part of her forevermore, his love for her, his earnest desire to make her happy, to protect her, to make her feel safe and warm in a cold, empty, broken galaxy.

Their bodies moved together, bringing each other exquisite pleasure, and Leia fell asleep in Han’s arms, grateful that he had walked in on her unbraiding her hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to mnemehoshiko/bittersnake for her support and commentary. Please do leave me a comment with your thoughts, and come find me on Twitter and Tumblr!


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